


Avengers 2740: The Futurist's Flaw, Soviet Resistance and Nuclear Vigilantes

by natashova



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Future, Multi, Nomad Steve Rogers, Not Canon Compliant, Nuclear Apocalypse AU, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony became Iron Man at 17
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:27:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29535423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashova/pseuds/natashova
Summary: The year is 2470, and the world is hurtling quickly towards what will one day be called The Nuclear Error. This is the story of the soldiers who unwittingly caused it, the agents who barely survived it, the men who rose above it and the heroes who will do their damnedest to avenge it.Iron Man and War Machine; the not-so-secret weapons of the United Empire of America. The Black Widow and The Winter Soldier; two strings of red tied together by their pasts and their futures. Nomad and Falcon; the heroes who rise up from the ashes.Tony thinks there's a metaphor in there somewhere, but he's too busy picking up nanobots to figure it out.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Nick Fury/Maria Hill (Implied), Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Kudos: 5





	Avengers 2740: The Futurist's Flaw, Soviet Resistance and Nuclear Vigilantes

**Author's Note:**

> This... is going to be a long one. The work will be four different stories tied together, probably two chapters for each story. This first story, The Futurist's Flaw, is before all of the nuclear shit and is the explanation of how it happens.

The ceremony was huge, and swarming with the kind of men Obie would refer to as ‘Iron Mongers’. War profiteers, people who rose up from the ashes after World War Three in the early 2400s. Tony was quite used to being lumped together with these morons, but he knew what he and Rhodey were doing for the United Empire of America was far greater than anything their counterparts’ pathetic minds could come up with.

Tony was usually stuck with the idiots thanks to his father, Howard Stark. He made the Stark name known with advanced AI weaponry- they were pretty much bombs with a conscience. A weapon that would ask you if you were sure before you set it off made the people pushing the button sleep better at night, so he made a fortune in easing heavy consciences.

All except one.

A month after the war ended in 2435, Howard flew out into the Arctic circle with a miniature atom bomb attached to his chest and blew himself up, leaving only an old-fashioned letter to his wife and son behind. He’d disabled the AI on that particular bomb.

Tony remembers that day well, he was only twelve years old, and his mother Maria was sobbing over his father’s desk. He wasn’t allowed to read the letter at the time. However, his mother passed when he was seventeen, dying of an overdose and a broken heart. The very day she died, Tony broke down the locked door of his father’s office, now covered in a thick sheet of dust, and read the letter.

It was short and fairly unemotional, but the last line has slightly haunted Tony ever since:

“In easing the conscience of a thousand soldiers, I have carried my own coffin to the tomb.”

From the moment he read that line, Tony knew what he had to do, and he was willing to fight a thousand soldiers to do it.

With the help of his assistant Pepper, Tony called a press conference in front of Stark Tower (which he had helped design at ten years old, it was the tallest building in the world). There were the usual swarms of camera drones and bots, but there was also a surprising amount of human reporters. Usually, they didn’t bother to attend these things.

“I know you all want to get back to whatever you normally do, so I’ll make this snappy.” Tony said with his winning smile, walking across the stage in a sharp suit and shades. “Last week, my mother Maria Stark left this world, and I took charge of Stark Industries. Many thanks to the New York lawmakers who lowered the age for that to sixteen, I owe you one!” There were quiet chuckles from the audience, and he knew he had them.

“When I took charge of Stark Industries, I gained access to a letter from my father. He spoke of his work with AI weaponry, and I have a new insight on them.” He took his sunglasses off, emulating a heart-to-heart conversation with his body language. “My father was many things, but emotional wasn’t one of them. Despite this, he ended his own life because he couldn’t handle the guilt, describing the creation of his bombs as carrying his own coffin to the tomb.”

Tony paused for effect, and there were a few gasps from reporters. “Because of this, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing sector of Stark Industries, in search of a project that will both protect the Empire and my own future conscience.”

The reporters erupted into shouts and flashes of cameras, and Tony grabbed his glasses and stalked off, Pepper effectively crowd-controlling behind him.

After that, Tony barricaded himself in his workshop for weeks, creating prototypes for drones and robots and non-weaponised AIs that he trashed again and again because they weren’t cutting-edge enough to bear the Stark name.

Then, at 3am, whilst running on fumes and no sleep whatsoever, Tony had the breakthrough that he knew would put SI right back at the top. He phoned his best friend Rhodey as soon as he had enough of a concept in his mind.

“Tones? It’s 3am, what are you doing up?”

“Rhodey, I have an idea, an incredible one I think, and I need you to listen to me.” He took a deep breath, before launching into a long explanation. “Our world is so full of machines and non-human technology that we’re overflowing with it, and yet they’ll never be as effective as humans _with_ technology. Usually, humans make guns and shields for us and armour the hell out of the tech. What if we armour the hell out of the humans?”

Tony paused for another breath, and Rhodes hummed thoughtfully. “I’m listening.”

“Right, so what if we made a… shell? A suit of armour almost, but with all the capabilities of our best fighter bots? Repulsors and flight and everything, but with a human mind inside to maximise effect. They’d be expensive, difficult and downright ostentatious, but if that doesn’t describe me then I don’t have a damn clue what does.”

“Tony I like your idea, but the best fighter bots are powered by your father’s arc reactor. They take up the entirety of the inside of the bot.” Rhodey sighs wistfully.

“So I make it smaller,” Tony replies flippantly, “I’ve been meaning to do that lately. Guess it just got bumped up the priority list then? I’ll let you know when I’ve built a suit, bye Rhodey!”

He didn’t stick around to hear the rest of his friend’s protests, instead he got to work on the arc reactor. He pulled out all his father’s old plans and started from scratch, only stopping occasionally when one of the bots handed him more coffee or something to eat. Only one of the cups of coffee had motor oil in, which was a real improvement.

It was 8am when a bright blue glow illuminated the room. He sat back, grinning manically at the miniaturized arc reactor for a while before dragging himself over to the bed in the corner of the workshop, where he promptly passed out and slept for fourteen hours. When he woke, it was to the smell of fresh coffee and bacon- Pepper had brought down some supplies for him (and left a bunch of papers to sign).

He dug into the food and downed the coffee, then launched himself into creating a suit of armour powered by the arc.

“Hey J, what do you reckon we should call this project?” He called out, directing his gaze towards the ceiling as if expecting his AI to appear in a corporeal form.

“Well, after your press conference I was tasked by Miss Potts to gauge the media response. Many major media outlets were quoting your father when he said “Stark men are made of iron”. Perhaps this could translate into a name?”

“JARVIS! You’re a genius. Y’know, cause I made you. Throw it back in their face and call it the Iron Man project.”

“Tony? Tony! Are you like, alive? Tony!”

Tony’s neck snapped upwards, and he looked up to see Rhodey staring at him with an unreadable expression- somewhere between concern, fondness and annoyance.

“Tones, are you okay? You were totally out of it then, staring into your drink like it’ll save the world for you.” He raised one eyebrow accusingly.

“Yep! All good. The crowds and the company reminded me of old times, that’s all.” He grinned up at his best friend, who rolled his eyes and dragged him up off the bar stool.

“C’mon, they’re seating us for the ceremony now. I know you got a history of skipping out on awards ceremonies, but this one actually matters.” Rhodey scolded, pulling Tony along behind him as he headed for the huge double doors. He stopped for a moment to straighten his uniform and, annoyingly, tug at Tony’s tie.

Tony followed him outside to their seats, which were front and centre and surrounded by security guards. He huffed at that, he’s 47 and still surrounded by people who think they can defend him better than he can himself.

After a few minutes of small talk, President Fury stepped onstage, and everyone fell silent. Not so much out of respect- out of fear. In the war, Fury’s father was president, and he was the one who created the Empire. Thanks to him, his son was now in charge of almost the entire world. (The European Union, the UK and Russia managed to escape the Empire’s rule. Everyone else is now governed by President Fury.)

“Ladies, gentlemen and all folk in between, today we are here to commemorate the great service of Mr Tony Stark and Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes. I know we haven’t told the greater public much about their work, and for good reason, but I believe their dedication to this empire deserves wide recognition.”

Rhodey was smiling proudly like a good soldier should, sitting up straight in his uniform with all his medals on display. Tony however was not a military man- he was slumped down in his chair in an expensive suit, wearing the sunglasses that projected a hidden screen onto the lenses. He was watching Ghostbusters, because he’s always believed that films went downhill after 2100.

“Therefore,” President Fury continued unaware of Tony’s inattention, “we are holding this event to celebrate the completion of the one-thousandth mission.” Tony’s eyes shot up, wide and shocked behind the lenses. “In 2440, Mr Stark created the first Iron Man suit. In 2442, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes convinced him to work with the United Empire military, and he agreed to do so on the basis that Rhodes worked with him. This led to the creation of War Machine. Together, these men have fought for their country in dangerous, highly classified situations and we have a lot to thank them for.” A man walked up onstage, handing two boxes to the President, who paused for a second to take them.

“Their dedication, courage and fearless natures are why I am proud to award both Tony Stark and James Rhodes with a unique award, created just for them.”

Tony saw Rhodey’s eyes light up with pleased surprise, and whilst he was happy for his friend, Tony wasn’t particularly keen on being decorated for his work. Nevertheless, he told himself he’d accept the award because Rhodey would want him to.

“If Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes and Mr Stark would please come up here to receive their awards, that’d be grand.”

Rhodey stood up quickly, walking upright and proud. Tony was less quick off the mark, and he winked at the cameras on the way up to the stage. He thinks he saw a woman swoon at the back.

“Congratulations, gentlemen. You both greatly deserve this honour.” President Fury almost smiled, and Tony was glad his glasses had cameras in, maybe he would leak a photo of the almost-smile tonight.

He watched his best friend fighting a smile, forcing his face to stay neutral whilst he received the medal. When it came to Tony’s turn, he plastered a cocky smirk on his face, as if to say _damn right I deserve this_. Inside, he was cringing away from the whole situation.

Tony Stark is many things. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He’s a great inventor, a suave businessman, a brilliant lover and he definitely considers himself a superhero. But the one thing Tony isn’t is a soldier. That’s why he was hesitant to join up with the military, but he knew working with them would probably be the right thing to do. Also, SI now has all the military contracts that don’t involve weapons. Pretty good for business.

After the ceremony that he (barely) survived, he was pulled aside by Secretary Pierce. This was fairly surprising for Tony; the two men have a history of getting into pissing contests over the pettiest of things.

“Pierce! Well, this is certainly surprising. Who died to make you come talk to me?” He grinned, paparazzi smile in full force.

“Maria Hill.”

“Sorry, what?”

Pierce glared at him. “You asked me who died. I told you, Agent Hill is dead. You need to come in for debriefing.”

Tony choked on his martini and tried not to show the pain that shot through him. “Right, yeah. I’ll get Rhodey, we’ll be at SHIELD as soon as.”

Pierce nodded and walked off, crowd parting for him. Tony truly rues the day Fury made Pierce the head of security for the Empire, the fucker just won’t leave him alone. With a silent prayer that SHIELD intel is incorrect for once, Tony parts the crowds himself to go and get his best friend, who was currently mingling with some generals and higher-ups of the military.

“Hey Rhodey! We’re needed. Sorry folks, we’re gonna have to ditch our own party.”

“Surely it can’t be that important, can it?” He joked, trying to get back to what he was doing.

“It can,” Tony tugged him down to his height, so he could whisper into his ear, “Hill’s dead. Pierce told me personally.”

“Apparently it can.” Rhodey grimaced, “Sorry, duty calls. We’ll continue this conversation later.”

Tony did some quick thinking to appease the frowns. “Don’t wait up! Feel free to empty the bar, it’s on me.” Smiling a winning smile, he walked away, dragging Rhodes behind him.

The two men rushed out to the car, suiting up and rocketing over to SHIELD. (Well, Tony could’ve suited up anywhere with his new nanotech suit, but Rhodey didn’t have one yet.) With the helmet on, Tony allowed himself a moment to grieve Maria Hill. From the silence on the other end of the open comm between them, it seemed that Rhodes was doing the same.

Iron Man and War Machine always made an excellent entrance, in Tony’s opinion. The two of them shot in through the front doors and went straight up the middle of the staircase to the most highly restricted floors. Both men burst in through the doors, stopping the entire room in its tracks.

“Who killed Maria Hill?” Snarled Tony, sadness having quickly turned to anger. “And are you _sure_ she’s dead?”

The room erupted with shouts, every form of aggression making its play.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“The nerve on you, Stark!”

“You disrespectful little shit!”

“God, I never liked you for this exact reason. Get out!” Tony was surprised to see that one came from Brock Rumlow.

He quickly analysed everyone who was shouting at him; most of the people in the room were STRIKE.

Ten years ago, SHIELD created five STRIKE teams: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. Tony has worked with all five teams on many occasions, for whenever the agency had to borrow a heavy-hitter.

Alpha Team is headed up (befittingly) by Brock Rumlow, a cocksure bastard whose team consists of a slimy asshole called Jack Rollins and some other goons who Rumlow seems to treat as disposable.

Team Beta is run by the possibly late Maria Hill, Tony’s second-favourite team leader. Beta squad has two field operatives, brothers. Their codenames are Thor and Loki; they refuse to go by anything else. There’s also an astrophysicist computer whiz named Darcy, who is an excellent science bro.

Headed up by the calculating Sharon Carter, Gamma Team always gets the job done but there’s rarely any room for chatter, making it fairly boring to work with them. Gamma consists of a large quantity of junior agents who need time in the field. What they lack in experience, they generally make up for in sheer numbers.

STRIKE Team Delta is absolutely Tony’s favourite, hands down. It’s as if Phil Coulson had taken the two most difficult recruits in SHIELD, thrown them in a blender then jumped in behind them. Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, otherwise known as Black Widow and Hawkeye, are an unstoppable duo with excellent banter. She never loses a fight (unless she wants to), he never misses a shot and Coulson writes paperwork the length of War and Peace. It works well, and Tony always agrees to any mission with Delta.

The less said about Epsilon the better, honestly. Jasper Sitwell is trying too hard to be like Coulson.

JARVIS, having compiled a list of everyone in the room, only flagged up two non-STRIKE bodies in the room: Head Scientist Bruce Banner (yay!) and Pierce’s right-hand man Thaddeus Ross (shit).

Pretty much all of the above parties were yelling at him, Rollins looked ready to hurt his fists on the Iron Man suit again, Ross was spitting over his paperwork in anger. But when he looked closer, he saw Team Delta in the corner, and they were decidedly not shouting. Coulson was looking at him blankly, a small glimpse of grief in how he was tightly gripping Barton’s wrist. Barton himself was looking a bit sick, and he was holding on to his superior like he’d keel over if he ever let go. And then there was Romanoff, who somehow was able to tell when she had his attention, who just shook her head once sharply. Tony released the faceplate to look right at her, tilting his head to the side slightly to ask for an explanation. She simply mouthed “You asked the right question.”

The fourth and fifth people not yelling at him were Bruce and Darcy, but that was less out of agreement and more to do with the fact that they were engrossed in a computer screen.

Unfortunately, the list of not yelling ended there.

The noise in the room escalated and escalated until there was a loud whine of a repulsor and the sound of shattering glass. It was Rhodey, arm raised menacingly with a thunderous expression on his face. He’d smashed a window to get everyone’s attention. “The next person who raises their voice at Tony Stark will get a blast to the head.”

Sadly, Rumlow didn’t get the memo. “Rhodes, are you insane? Keep your billionaire on a tighter leash, he’s questioning SHIELD intelligence _and_ undermining Hill’s death.” Rollins, Sitwell and a few other slimy agents were nodding and making noises of agreement.

Tony, at that moment, decided he was entirely done with this. “Has anyone found the body of Maria Hill and called it?” He looked at Rumlow expectantly.

“She was out in the field with Thor and Loki, all three went dark for 48 hours. We recently heard from the brothers, but not from her. We have to assume-“

“Don’t,” Tony snarled. “Don’t assume shit, Maria is one of the most competent agents in this entire joint. She’d be insulted by the mere _insinuation_ that she died out there.” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Romanoff’s nod, the sudden glimmer of hope in Barton’s eye, the way that Coulson stood up a little straighter than before, and he knew he had to be right.

“No, we should never assume anything.”

Tony fought to prevent the groan of displeasure at hearing Alexander Pierce’s voice yet again.

“However,” Pierce continued, “this is far more than assumption.” He strode into the room, taking a seat at the head of the table that most of the room had stood up from to yell at Tony. At the arrival of the Director, the room settled and took their seats at the table. Rhodey was extremely proud to sit at the other end, opposite Pierce, and Tony sat on his right hand side. The rest of the agents all seated themselves, bolt-upright and battle-ready.

“Agent Maria Hill has always been the best of us,” Pierce began, and Tony was struggling to stop himself from clunking his head on the table. He’s always hated the man’s speeches. Regrettably, Pierce continued talking despite Tony’s internal objections. “and she is truly an integral member of this organisation. This is why I sent her on this mission that has sadly taken a turn for the worst.” He paused, probably just to be dramatic. “Due to her exceptional skill level, we know that even in her darkest hour she manages to contact us. Therefore, thanks to her impeccable track record, we have to assume she’s dead.”

Tony saw Rhodey’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, then turned to see Barton run his hand through his hair in what seemed like disbelief. Obviously, Romanoff was trying to murder Pierce with her eyes.

“However,” Pierce spoke firmly, “this mission still needs doing; it’s a top priority. We need volunteers to take the place of Team Beta, and _if_ there’s time, you can search for a trail on Hill. Or, the more likely reality, recover her body so she receives the proper send-off she deserves.”

Before he even realised it, Tony was speaking. “I’ll do it.”

The whole table turned to stare at him, half of them gawking and the other half attempting to mask what the first half couldn’t.

“You?” Rumlow laughed, “She’ll definitely be dead if Iron Man goes!” He smirked at his own joke, and there was a smattering of chuckles.

“Can it, Brock,” Clint hissed, “did nobody teach you the concept of _too soon_?”

Rumlow simply rolled his eyes, and cocked an eyebrow as if to say _Am I wrong?_

“I think it’s a good idea.” Coulson said plainly, and the room quietened down immediately. “If this mission downed Mar- Hill, then it’s going to need some extra power. I volunteer Delta Squad to take this operation, and I am requesting that we’re joined by Iron Man.”

The silence was deafening. Pierce was trying to have a staring contest with Coulson, but the sunglasses over the agent’s eyes were preventing that. The Director sighed. “Specialists Barton and Romanoff, do you have an opinion?”

“Nah, the boss-man’s right. We’re the best damn STRIKE team, and Stark ain’t so bad.” Barton grinned, the easy insubordination clearly written into his DNA.

Romanoff clocked him lightly in the back of the head. “We’re going.” She said simply, as if there wasn’t any other option.

Pierce looked at Tony and Rhodey, as if begging them to disagree. Rhodey simply shrugged, and Tony got up to go and stand behind Team Delta, closing the faceplate to end the conversation. Rumlow looked like he was about to protest, but Coulson got up out of his seat, his subordinates following his lead.

“J, they’re wearing earpieces right? Get me into their comm link.”

“Access granted Sir.”

“So,” Tony said into the new comm channels, watching as all three of them were perfectly unreactive, “now we’re all standing up, great. What’s next?”

“We’ll be going to my office now,” Coulson said to the room (and in subtle reply to Tony), “I’ll pull up the files on this mission, debrief my team and be en-route in approximately two hours.”

Pierce nodded, and Team Delta started to walk out. Tony fist-bumped Rhodey on the way out, who chuckled and said goodbye through their private comm.

The four of them headed down the corridor, but they bypassed Coulson’s office and headed straight for the lift. Barton opened his mouth to say something, but his handler abruptly covered his mouth and shook his head. The lift took them down to the car park, where they headed for the personal carpark instead of the SHIELD carpool. Coulson pulled out some keys, unlocked the doors and gestured for everyone to get in. Tony went to do so, but noticed that one of his cars was still in the lot from the last time he drove to SHIELD then flew back home again.

He grabbed Coulson’s arm, and pointed at the sleek black Audi near the back of the lot, tapping a couple buttons on his highly customised top-of-the-range StarkWatch. The headlights flashed, signalling that it was unlocked. The man hesitated, before locking his own car back up again and heading quickly for the Audi.

Figuring it wasn’t a good idea to sit in a car in his armour, Tony tapped the reactor and let the suit slide back into its casing, leaving him in the Armani number he wore at the ceremony.

He gestured that Coulson was welcome to drive, and slid in the back with Barton after Romanoff glared her way into shotgun.

“JARVIS, blackout mode. Absolutely nothing in or out, capiche?”

“Of course, Sir. Hello again Agent Coulson, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton. It’s a pleasure to see you once more.” JARVIS flicked a red light on the dashboard to signify a complete shutdown of external communications. He also took the liberty of tinting all the windows, then mirroring them.

“This car’s now more secure than Fort fucking Knox. What’s happening, Coulson?” Tony questioned, tugging off his tie and chucking it into the footwell.

“My office is bugged. Stark, can you make it look like we’re in there?” He seemed to be looking for a key to the engine. Tony smirked, the textbook smirk that screamed _billionaire privileges_.

“C’mon J, don’t torture our favourite agent. Put the engine on, he can drive.” Tony grinned as the engine started and Coulson scowled but took it in his stride. As they pulled out of the car park, Tony activated the holographic screen and keyboard that only works for him. As they drove, he quickly glitched out all the security cameras as they drove past them, leaving the four of them entirely untraceable. SHIELD however, that was tougher.

“Sir, may I suggest putting an encrypted call through to Miss Lewis?”

“J, I love you. Do that.”

Barton looked over, surprised. “You’re friends with Darcy?”

“Sure am,” Tony grinned, “I do science with her and Bruce. You?”

“We’re trying to make our way through all the coffee-shops in New York to find the ultimate caffeine-rich experience. Tasha tags along too, sometimes.”

Tony is about to reply with something witty, but then the call to Darcy connects. “Tony? What’s up?”

“Darcy! My favourite female science bro-“

“The only female science bro-“

“Whatever, whatever, I’m assuming you didn’t answer this highly encrypted call with JARVIS’ warnings in the room full of agents?” At Darcy’s affronted _no way_ , he barrelled on. “I need you to make it look like the four of us are in Coulson’s office as soon as possible. Like, now. And five minutes ago.”

“Sure, I’ll get some old footage on there. What’s happening?” She sounded fairly panicked now, but there was also frantic typing in the background.

“I suppose I should explain myself,” Coulson cut in, “I’m sorry for the lack of warning, but there was no way of sharing anything I saw without it possibly being seen by the Director.” Tony noted that Coulson had ditched the sunglasses, which were probably being used to look up the mission.

“I was checking the file details, and I noticed that there was a lot of encrypted folders- first red flag. I downloaded them to my Bluetooth USB, Stark, can you get these open?”

“Sure, give me a couple minutes. Plug it into the dash at the side there, and J will run the programs.” Tony saw the progress bar pop up, and he flicked the box over to the side for Barton to keep an eye on.

“The second red flag was the mission itself. It was listed as medium-priority, risk level five out of ten. Should’ve been easy, especially with an experienced team like Beta. And yet, Pierce was saying this is a top-priority mission.” Coulson was driving them through backroads now and Tony was quite pleased to have less security cameras to deal with glitching out.

“Finally, my third red flag was how quick the Director was to call Hill’s death. His explanation was-“

“-Absolute bullshit, sir,” Barton cut in, “it was as flimsy as the bikinis of the models Stark sleeps with.”

“Excuse _me_ Barton, the swimming trunks of the guys are _just_ as flimsy.”

“If we ignore pointless metaphors,” Romanoff spoke for the first time since she got in the car, “Clint has a point. Pierce is being shady, and the way he was looking for an excuse not to send the best STRIKE team and the tin can shows us he’s trying to cover something up.”

Tony graciously ignores the tin can comment. “Darce, have you got us covered?”

“Yes, I’ve just changed the security footage. I’m assuming you want me to cause a base-wide camera failure in two hours’ time? You have to get back in to take a jet to the mission.”

“Please-“ Coulson starts, but Tony hushes him. “That won’t be necessary. Whilst Agent was talking, I was figuring out logistics of this. If everyone here is agreeable, this is going to be upgraded to an Iron Man mission, with STRIKE Team Delta listed as backup. This way, we can take my own tech, and do it our way. I have a favour to call in with the President, and I’ll get him to step in and change it.”

“What makes you think he’ll listen to you? Pierce is practically his second eye.” Romanoff is glaring at him through the rear mirror.

“Something tells me,” Tony says, dialling Fury’s number, “he hasn’t been informed of the situation.”

The call connects, and there’s faint background noise from the ceremony. “Stark, why are we on your blackout line? You’re supposed to be at SHIELD.”

“We are- well, we were. I made some executive decisions. Director sent me and Delta out on a mission.”

“Then go and do your job, Stark. Have I just decorated you for nothing?”

Tony took a sharp breath in. “Hill’s dead.”

There was a pause, before some noises of movement, and the background noise disappeared. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

“Damned if I know. Pierce sent me as a side-piece to Delta to finish the mission she apparently died on and try to retrieve Hill’s body, but here’s the thing; he has no concrete evidence she died, and he was trying to stop us from being the ones to go.”

“Motherfucker,” The President hissed, “what do you need?”

“Make this an Iron Man mission. I’m with Team Delta currently in one of my cars, and Coulson doesn’t know it but he’s currently being autopiloted to Stark Tower.” He receives a glare from the man, and a resigned sigh before he took his hands of the wheel and sat back. “I need to do this with my technology, and I can’t have SHIELD involved if we’re going to figure out what he’s hiding. Tell Pierce I phoned you for a second opinion, or whatever, just make it happen so Agent Lewis can stop hacking Coulson’s office.”

President Fury huffs, before saying “Fine. I’m already putting the call through, I owe you Stark.”

“Naturally. I’ll do everything I can to find her, Nick.”

“Keep me updated, Anthony.”

The call cuts out, and everyone in the car is looking at him like he’s grown a second head. Tony sighs, figuring he’ll have to explain himself. “My father and Fury’s father were… allies is probably the most accurate. We’ve known each other since long before he was president, before I was Iron Man even. We have our differences, but we see eye-to-eye-to-eyepatch on more things than you’d imagine. And he owes me anyway, but that’s a whole other story.”

Coulson shifts in his seat, and turns to face him. “He always said there was only one other person who called him that.”

Tony freezes for a moment, before grinning. “Son of a bitch, you’re Cheese.”

“And it seems you’re Anthony, Mr Stark.” There was a ghost of a smile on his face, despite the perpetually cold tone.

“Oh come _on_ , surely you can call me Tony now? All of you?”

Barton chuckled, and held out a hand. “Call me Clint.”

Romanoff sighed, but conceded “You can call me Natasha, I suppose.”

There was a long pause, where everyone in the car turned to look at Coulson.

“Not a chance, Tony.” He said, at the same time as Tony said “Um, his name is Agent.”

Deciding that settled that, the four of them drove back to Stark Tower with a newfound friendly banter, interspersed with mission planning and Darcy’s confirmation that she’s fabricated their time in Coulson’s office, then cut the cameras in the time it would’ve taken them to leave. She hung up with a cheerful goodbye just as the car drove into the underground parking lot of the Tower.

Tony smirked as the wall at the back of the lot slid open to reveal his personal parking spaces- all fifty of them. Almost all of them were full, with cars of all different colours and types filling the spots. The car pulled into an empty space and the doors opened- Tony ushered everyone out of the car and through another secret entrance in the east wall. The door took them straight into his workshop, where Tony was quietly proud of Delta’s reaction to his space.

He shucked his suit jacket and shirt, leaving him in his slacks and undershirt, one of the ones with a space cut out for the arc reactor. Clint did a double take when he saw him.

“Tony, is that-“

“This is the Arc Reactor. It houses the nanites for my suit, powers said suit and I put it in my own damn body because it was the logical choice. Sad to say, the first design of this baby gave me heavy metal poisoning from the palladium core, so I made a better one that runs on the rarest metal on this planet and won’t kill me slowly and painfully. Any questions?”

“Why is it so hot?” Clint leered, and Tony laughed.

Coulson was apparently displeased with the comment and he- oh Christ.

He leaned in close to Clint’s ear, whispering something before kissing him roughly on the lips, hand bunched up in the other man’s shirt. Clint seemed to melt, clasping his hands around Coulson’s neck. After a few (extremely long) seconds they pulled apart, both men having the audacity not to look remotely embarrassed.

It was only a moment before Tony shook his head in mild disbelief, before turning to Natasha and asking “So, do you have any skeletons in your closet to share in this strange, fucked-up trust exercise?”

“My Russian name is Natalia Romanova. That’s the best you’re getting.”

“That’ll do nicely,” Tony smiled, “now, let’s save Maria Hill.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm posting as I'm writing, so updates will be irregular, but if you liked this please subscribe to the work! There's a lot more to get to, and you don't wanna miss it!


End file.
